And entering Sunday, the Wolverines had trailed for just 36:37 of those 560 minutes -- 24 of them coming in one game, against Pittsburgh.

In other words, Michigan had held a lead for about 93 percent of the entire season.

So when Michigan found itself down 7-0 within the first two minutes against Iowa, John Beilein was secretly smiling deep down.

"We needed that, guys," said Beilein, whose team has yet to face a double-digit deficit this season. "We've played a lot of games where 15 minutes into the first half we might have had a double-digit lead, we didn't have that today."

Yeah, well, it didn't really matter.

They still won by 28.

If Michigan's idea of adversity these days is finding a way to come back from a 7-point deficit in 38 minutes of play at home, then that guy who plays the world's smallest violin might want to learn how to strum "The Victors."

Through 15 games this season, things have basically been easy for this team. There have been things to nit-pick about here or there, sure. Nothing's been perfect, but most of it's been pretty close.

And Wednesday against Nebraska, it might be the same -- as the Cornhuskers were hammered by 26 at Ohio State last week before managing just 41 points in a home loss to Wisconsin on Sunday.

A win would match the best start in program history at 16-0, and that whole adversity thing will still be stuck on the shelf.

But, sooner or later -- at some point -- things will get difficult for this basketball team. This league's too good.

And if there's one question mark about this team -- it's how these young Wolverines will handle the rough stuff when it eventually shows itself.

"I've never thought about (a perfect season) ever," Beilein said Monday. "And I never will think about it.

"We're just trying to get to 3-0 in the BIg Ten."

After Nebraska, Michigan hits the road to take on Ohio State on Jan. 13 before traveling to red-hot Minnesota Jan. 17.

The Wolverines have a 10-year losing streak at Ohio State, and Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers have won 10 in a row. From there, Michigan still has road dates left at Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan State -- venues that have adversity oozing out of the floorboards.

Michigan's not going to go undefeated this season, it just won't -- Beilein knows that. How his group responds to the bumps in the road will make the difference between starting well and finishing well. But dealing with adversity isn't necessarily defined by reacting to a loss.

It's also about how you react down double digits on the road. How you react when your best player has an off night. If the calls aren't going your way. If someone has the flu, or breaks up with a girlfriend.

Anything.

Michigan has five freshmen in its rotation that have never experienced a loss at this level -- heck, they've never been behind by more than 8 points.

The Wolverines seem to have a strong leadership base in Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jordan Morgan -- older players that have kept the team focused throughout these pastings.

But it's easy to stay focused when you're burying teams. Zack Novak and Stu Douglass weren't at their best, leadership-wise, after blowout wins -- they were at their best after tough losses, showing the ability to keep the train moving despite a hitch.